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Inspirational bond
By HARLAN WEIKLE
Article published on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007 |
ISLAND ESTATES – Winter, the 2-year-old dolphin that lost her tail in 2005, has a new tail and now some new, young friends.
On Oct. 26, Winter greeted and shared her story with four fellow amputees during a public fitting and trial of her new prosthetic tail at Clearwater Marine Aquarium.
Winter’s guests included Katrina Simpkins, an 8-year-old who was born without her right leg; 9-year-old Alex Miller, also missing his right leg, Anthony Burruto, 12, who excels as an athlete pitching for his little league team on two prosthetic legs, and retired Army Lt. Melissa Stockwell, 27, who lost her left leg to a roadside bomb while patrolling the streets of Bagdad in April, 2004.
All four were brought together for the first time by their stories, which although different share a similar connection to the story of Winter and her remarkable will to not only survive, but to thrive and go on to inspire other amputees.
The Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Hanger Prosthetics and its vice president for prosthetics, Kevin Carroll, brought the five together for what would be the first of many such encounters. The team plans to unveil a formal program later this fall, which will make visits by groups of recovering amputees a regular part of Winter’s own recovery. Alex and Anthony are both patients of Hanger, using prosthetics designed by Carroll’s team.
“There are significant technologies transferring to humans as a result of our work with animals such as Winter,” Carroll said. “Winter’s story has become a global inspiration to amputees.”
David Yates, CMA chief executive officer, read from a letter written by members of the Amputee V.A. Support Team at Tampa’s veterans hospital and addressed to Winter.
“Dear Winter: We were very intrigued by your story and the courage you have demonstrated … your will to survive is an inspiration to us all.”
They also sent Winter an official AVAST T-shirt declaring her an honorary member of their team.
“The number of such groups who have contacted us after hearing of Winter’s remarkable recovery really caught us by surprise,” Yates said.
Scores of aquarium visitors surrounded the dolphin pool to watch as the four special guests took turns participating in Winter’s daily exercise with her new prosthetic tail. The dolphin, every bit the curious youngster, seemed to revel in the attention as her trainers along with Katrina, Alex, Anthony and Melissa took turns petting the young dolphin and gently encouraging her to maneuver using her artificial tail. The appliance is held securely to her stub with the aid of a special gel sleeve developed by Hanger. The soft sleeve holds the tail in place by suction.
Although, as trainer Diane Young explained, Winter does not yet know how to use the tail in the normal up-and-down motion dolphins use to swim, she will over time, as she becomes accustomed to the feel of the tail and finds that she can use it to swim and perhaps even to jump.
Like humans who are amputees from birth or have an amputation in childhood, Winter will have several refittings of her prosthesis as she grows into a full-sized adult.
Stockwell, who is now a civilian and a member of the Board of Directors of The Wounded Warriors Project, a non-profit group dedicated to providing encouragement and assistance to severely injured service men and women, had this to say upon meeting Winter: “Seeing her for the time today as an amputee, there is an automatic bond between us as there is between any amputees.”
An athlete herself, Stockwell was on her way to San Diego to compete in last weekend’s Challenged Athletes Foundation Triathlon event for the benefit of disabled persons. The California fires forced the event’s cancellation and she was able to join the others at Winter’s event.
Miller too was celebrating a first, just two days earlier he and his family received a new “running leg” – his first one. The new leg is outfitted with a spring blade that absorbs the impact from running while adding a more natural spring-like action to his running stride.
His mother said because Alex is a very high amputee, meaning he has virtually no leg extension below his hip, the new gel developed at Hanger allows her son to wear his new leg with out a strap used by most amputees with similar conditions. She explained, “It just rolls on like a sock and he can tug at it all he wants and it stays in place,” adding, “And now with the spring he can run. He’s very proud of his new leg, he can’t wait to get back to school and show it to all his friends.”
Alex said he would be back to visit Winter. He told his mom, “I wanted to jump in the pool and swim with the dolphins.”
Katrina’s prosthetic leg is a gift from the Shriners Hospitals where she has had all three of her surgeries. The Shriners Hospital Foundation, which has from the beginning supported Katrina’s success in overcoming her handicap, has its national headquarters in Tampa.
Katrina was born without a femur or upper leg, a condition called PFFD or proximal femoral focal deficiency. Her knee was near her hip and she had a developed lower leg and foot. Surgeons were able to use her foot as a replacement for the missing knee by surgically detaching it and turning it backward; her heel now acts as a knee joint, “which gives her natural gait,” her father said. Most amputees above the knee must rely on a mechanical joint for the knee.
The third-grader from Indiana who first met Winter last July while on a vacation with her family in Florida said, “I was really glad I could meet somebody with a prosthesis just like me.”
After returning home, her mother said, all she would talk about is her friend, Winter.
Katrina will undergo a fourth surgery next summer.
“She knows she needs the surgery,” her father said, “and she’s apprehensive about it. She will have to be in a full body cast all summer, so no swimming.”
“When I get back home,” Katrina said, “I always think about her (Winter) so much and I want to write her and tell her what I am doing all the time.”
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Article published on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007
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